Practice with Kuroko
by ErinTheOtaku
Summary: The fruits of late night/technically early morning writing, wherein the generation of miracles who all; surprise, surprise, are in love with Kuroko; each get to spend some time alone with him in practice. Will any of them manage to win his heart?


**Hello there, I feel like I should put up some sort of notice before you read this. Despite being a huge fan for quite a while now this is my first Kuroko no Basuke fic, even though I've wanted to do one for ages. Last night at 1am in a very me-like hyperactive state I decided that I felt like writing and so, I wrote until 4am and then this existed. I originally planned on having a chapter for each generation of miracles with Kuroko, but now I don't know whether I should do that, make it just an Aomine x Kuroko or not finish it at all. Feedback would be much appreciated, let me know if you think I should continue whatever this is or not, and if I do decide to continue it on, next chapter would be Midorima just btw~ **

**Kuroko's POV:**

"Kurokochi!"

"Tetsu!"

"Kurochiiin."

"Kuroko…"

"Tetsuya." I hear each voice of the five people I know so well call out as I appear in front of them, to their eyes, well, to everyone's eyes but Akashi's, seemingly out of nowhere. Even though I've been standing here for over ten minutes now. It's always like this, but it's not like it's a bad thing. If I wasn't like this, with such little presence, Akashi never would have noticed me, and I would never be standing in this gym training with such skilled players. It's kind of ironic to think about, that the one thing that got my noticed by the captain of the Teiko basketball team, was the fact that I was never noticed.

"How long have you been there Kurokochi? We keep telling you not to scare us like that!" Kise whines at me, a puppy dog look in his eyes. I give him a slightly annoyed look, making it seem like I'm offended by his surprise of my presence. Obviously I'm not actually offended, but I don't think anyone can pass up teasing someone who can be as dense as Kise.

"You were the one who ran in five minutes late today Kise kun. I've been here the whole time." I say with a knowing tone, keeping a completely even voice. Kise sighs with my response, muttering to whoever will listen about how mean I am to bully him, small tears forming in his eyes. The look of annoyance at this turn of events is plain on Akashi's face before he speaks up in an intimidating voice.

"Ryouta, it is unnecessary for you to complain every time Tetsuya gives you a fright. Going through this scenario almost every day with you makes training take longer and is quite tiring. Don't do it again." The second shortest member of the team, only a few centimetres higher than me looks straight up into Kise's eyes far above his own and strikes fear into them, despite the obvious difference in stature. Anyone who thinks that size has anything to do with intimidation and power, has clearly never met Akashi. The affect his words have on Kise are both instantaneous and plainly obvious. Sweat drips down the blondes face before he even starts playing, bowing down to Akashi's height to deliver a profuse apology, which the captain accepts before moving on.

"Anyway, today, each of you will be rotating from normal practice to passing practice with Tetsuya. Ryouta, you were going to be up first but since you annoyed me I'm moving you down to fourth behind Atsushi. But don't be too happy, the only reason I'm not putting you last is because I have club business to organize and will be busy until later. Regardless, Daiki, you're up first so match up with Kuroko, everyone else can do shooting drills until your turn." With those orders handed out, Akashi turns on his heels and walks out of the gym to deal with whatever business he has. All of us break off into our groups; Midorima strutting towards to hoop with Kise complaining behind him and Murasakibara nibbling on pocky as he walks over to join the two. I turn to Aomine and give him a smile, holding my fist up.

"Looks like we're together for this Tetsu. You'd better do your best if you want to keep up with me." My best friends laughs as he speaks, bringing his fist down to bump against my own.

"I always do my best Aomine kun." I reply to him with determination that I will be good enough to play alongside him. He brings his hand down once again, this time to ruffle my hair like you would do to a child, before laughing it off and walking to grab a basketball. I stand ready, placing my feet firmly on the ground, but still ready to spring in whatever direction I am needed in as soon as the ball has left Aomine's hands. Even if it's only practice I have to do my best. I have to be where I am needed, and I need to get the ball safely back to Aomine.

"Well, let's start this." Aomine says, almost with a shake in his voice. I question this, and how different it is from his usual over flowingly confident demeanour. But when he grins at me like his usual self a second later I realise whatever I think just happened was nothing but my imagination. One second he is still grinning with confidence, and in the next the ball is flying at me with speed that could only be generated by Aomine. I take it in stride and move immediately. Three steps to the right, turn with my left foot and thrust my arm forward into the centre of the ball, adding even more momentum and sending it flying back into Aomine's palm.

"Wow, we really don't call you the phantom sixth man for nothing!" He scoffs in awe, looking down at me with a look of enjoyment on his face before preparing to throw again.

**Aomine's POV:**

I'm not the kind of guy who gets excited over things, or fawn over something I like. Hell, I'm not even the kind of guy who likes much at all. But when Akashi tells me that I'm going to be the first to have one on one practice with Tetsu today it makes me excited, and I can't help but think to myself how lucky I am to get to play with Tetsu, otherwise known to me as the completely unaware subject of my affections. I don't really remember a defining moment when I realised these feelings of mine. I've of course always just assumed that I was attracted to girls, I mean, that's the normal thing. But after I met Tetsu I started to question that, and I guess after a while I came to realise that what I feel for him is more than what I would feel for someone who was just a friend. The way he never gives up, his constant support of all of us from behind the scenes, and possibly the best thing about him; his adorable nature. I love it all. I admire him, and have nothing but respect for him. But that's not the kind of thing I can just casually bring out in conversation. 'So Tetsu, we're working together huh? That's a great thing, seeing as well, y'know, I'm totally in love with you.' Yeah, that would go down so well. And so, instead of doing something like that, I simply grunt in affirmation to Akashi and walk over to Kuroko with a friendly façade on my face.

"Looks like we're together for this Tetsu. You'd better do your best if you want to keep up with me." I laugh as I bring my fist down to his, using the sound to hide the slight nervousness lingering in my mouth. I am a confident guy, a lot of people would actually say I'm so overconfident that I'm actually kind of a jerk. But recently I've found myself increasingly shy around Kuroko. Although despite all my worrying, Tetsu, oblivious as he is, doesn't see the strain behind me gesture and only sees a laughing friend.

"I always do my best Aomine kun." He looks up at me with determination as he talks, becoming the very picture of the Tetsu I admire so much, the one that loves basketball just as much as I do. I swear his eyes sparkle for a second, as if bringing a physical form to his determination. I can't stop myself from reaching down again, this time to ruffle his powder blue hair, needing at least some sort of contact. I manage to pull my hand away after a second, laughing once again to hide my real intentions and walking off to grab a basketball. Geez, is it really this hard to even have a conversation with him now? Just hearing his voice is enough to make me want to reach out and grab him, to bring him close and hold him tight. What am I thinking? This isn't even a romantic place! We're in the middle of goddamn training! I need to calm myself the hell down. I make my way back to where Tetsu is standing ready slowly, taking a deep breath before talking.

"Well, let's start this." Even after my attempt at staying calm my voice still catches in the middle of my sentence, making it sound shaky and nervous. Can't I do anything other than basketball right? I berate myself at my utter inability to do something as simple as talk to someone, but when I look at Tetsu I realise that he has barely noticed my slip up. I take advantage of his dense nature and give him a quick grin, trying to look like my usual self. From the minimal amount of emotion on his face, I think I can tell that he's dismissed any thoughts of my odd behaviour. I leave myself no more time to think and just get straight into it, putting all my strength behind my pass and sending it flying out of my hands. It veers a little bit to Tetsu's right, but he's there in an instant and I am forced to thrust my hands forward to catch the ball already rushing back at me, coming even faster than when I threw it. I hear the sound of the ball impacting with my hands and coming to a complete stop like a crack of lightning. The impact itself makes my hands tingle, I've caught Tetsu's passes so many times before, but I'm still not quite used to this one. His 'ignite pass', which out of all the Teiko members, only I can catch. It always leaves a slight sting on my hands. I stare at him in amazement, words slipping out of my mouth before I even realise it.

"Wow, we really don't call you the phantom sixth man for nothing!" I blurt out in complete awe of Tetsu, totally impressed by both the speed and the power of his strongest pass. My words put a smile on his face, and he looks genuinely happy to receive such a compliment. I feel proud to have been able to put a smile on his usually emotionless face, but at the same time slightly awkward. I never would have felt like this before, especially not in a situation as seemingly mundane as this. But it's hard to think rationally when the sound of my heart beating faster and faster within my chest is filling my ears. Snap out of this you idiot! For gods sake your practicing basketball not dancing at the damn prom. Stop acting like a 15 year old girl and just throw the ball! I manage to talk some sense into myself and start up the passing drill again. No matter how quick or where I throw the ball to, Tetsu is always there and he sends it straight back to me with one of his magic passes. The more time we spend practicing together the more I am able to relax, and eventually I have calmed down to the point of actually being able to talk to him properly while we throw to each other.

"Hey Tetsu, are you doing anything after practice today?" I ask as I pass the ball to him. He spins to tap it back and mutters as he does.

"Well, I was just going to study for the upcoming tests." He stands up straight and stops the drill for a second as he finishes his response. "Why, did you want to do something?" He questions me perfectly innocently, but despite knowing just how platonic Tetsu sees our relationship, and despite the fact that I know full well he sees my offer as an invitation to hang out as friends, I still can't stop my excitement as it fills me up and threatens to spill out my mouth, which is currently struggling to make words.

"Well, uh, I was thinking we could go shopping for uh, for some new basketball shoes." I subconsciously scratch my head as a sign of nervousness as I make up my excuse to ask Tetsu out somewhere. When I look down at him trying to hide the anxiousness I'm feeling, confusion fills his face.

"Basketball shoes? But didn't you buy new ones just two weeks ago?" He questions me, bending down as he does to get a closer look at my feet. "See? These ones look just fine." Tetsu says in a monotone voice before jumping back up and looking up at me, waiting expectantly for a response. I feel like a fish out of water, struggling just to breathe. But I can't be like this. I'm better than this dammit. I channel my normal self, the one with confidence practically oozing out and look down to face Tetsu, allowing myself to look into the eyes I adore so much. I will be assertive like I would with anyone else, I won't be some bumbling school girl.

"They may look fine but they're pretty worn out, and I can't train properly with bad shoes. It must be because I'm always so fast on the court, not even my equipment is strong enough for me." I thrust away all my nervousness and speak only with confidence, a grin on my face.

"Anyway, are you coming or not? I can ask Satsuki if you won't." I don't want to ask Satsuki, she'll only be a pain. But when I see the pleasant smile on Tetsu's face I know I won't have to.

"No, no. I'll come Aomine kun. It should be fun." His acceptance of my offer turns me back into a total idiot, smiling a big, goofy smile and cheering inside my head. I am already planning what I will do, I know which shoes I like for basketball, so I always get the same pair from this one store. I can get it done in 5 minutes, top. Once we buy them I'll offer to buy him a vanilla milkshake at his favourite place, Maji burger. Yeah, then it'll be almost like a date. While the wheels are turning rapidly in my head as I plan my afternoon with Tetsu, he is already ready to start practicing again, signalling for me to throw to him again. I pull myself out of my trance and throw it, only to be forced to catch it again seconds later, and keep it in my hands.

"Aomine kun?" Tetsu questions, looking at me quizzically, but I ignore his gaze and think to myself. If this afternoon is going to be like a date, then maybe I'll be able to confess to him. What if I do it now? Everyone else is practicing in the other half of the gym, they can't hear me. I could do it. Right now while I'm in a rare bout of confidence around Tetsu. But wait, wait a second. Why am I thinking he's going to just accept this? Why the hell would I think that? He's a freaking guy! They like girls, not their basketball teammates! But I could do it. I could. To hell with the consequences. I open my mouth to start, I can't say anything. Oh god I am going to regret this. I am so going to regret this. What the hell right? Right?

"Tetsu, I…" Now or nothing. Come on you idiot! "I li-" I stagger out, my face heating up and turning bright red, but I am stopped by a tap on my shoulder from behind. I turn around at light speed to see who the hand owns to, only to see a green head of hair.

"Midorima you bastard!" I scream out, confusion clear on the shooters face and rage and embarrassment clear on mine. I was about to confess! I was prepared to do it no matter what the consequences! And he had to ruin it the bastard!

"I don't know what your problem is Aomine but it's my turn to practice with Kuroko." Damn it all to hell! Trust him to ruin everything! I storm away in anger, dropping the ball I'm still holding and kicking it at the wall, sending it flying with the power of my frustration. God dammit! How can this all be so hard? Why does it have to be this hard to tell someone I love them?

"I'll see you this afternoon Aomine kun." I hear Tetsu call out behind me, but I don't look back at him, instead I just power straight out of the door to the gym and don't stop till I arrive at the bubblers. I spray the water in my face, cooling myself down. I need to think. That was stupid. I'm pissed at Midorima but it might have been a good thing that he interrupted us. Tetsu would have rejected me. How on earth did I manage to convince myself that he wouldn't? I walk to the nearest wall and let myself slide down its course surface, letting myself fall down until I hit the ground and bury my head in-between my legs.

"Why does it have to be so hard?" I ask myself for what feels like the millionth time, starting to feel moisture pool in my eyes. I'm not the kind of guy who cries. I'm not, I tell myself. But no matter how much I deny it, I can't deny the liquid I feel pouring down my face. What am I going to do?


End file.
